Various types of ammunition for firearms such as handguns, rifles, and shotguns are well known in the art. Different types of ammunition are suited to different purposes. A problem with most types of ammunition in use today is that the projectiles which are fired by the ammunition have the capability of passing through or ricocheting from solid objects such as walls and doors. This increases the destructive range of firearms and subjects a greater number of people to danger from ricocheting or stray projectiles.
For law enforcement officials having to discharge weapons at close range in crowded urban environments, the problems associated with discharging firearms are compounded. Ammunition fired at a person or object for instance, has the capability of injuring people other than the intended target. As an example, a bullet fired inside a room can ricochet from a solid object within the room and injure people other than the intended target. Alternately the bullet may penetrate and completely pass through the walls of the room and injure someone in another room or someone outside the structure. In general, any type of conventional ammunition formed with a projectile of a hard material such as metal (i.e. lead) will have the capability of ricocheting off or penetrating objects, without a significant loss of energy.
In addition to this shortcoming of conventional ammunition, some projectiles, such as a lead bullet fired at a high velocity, may expend very little energy during flight and even upon impact. Such a projectile may pass completely through non vital body structure, with little transfer of kinetic energy, and not knock down or render a targeted person incapable of retaliatory action.
In order to address some of these problems different types of ammunition, having projectiles formed of a relatively soft material such as wax, rubber or plastic are known in the art. It is also known to utilize a granular material such as salt as a projectile in shot gun shells. In general, however, such ammunition although having low penetration with respect to solid objects, does not have the personnel stopping power necessary to enable such ammunition to be even minimally effective as anti personnel ammunition. The use of this type of ammunition is therefor not suitable to everyday law enforcement and is restricted to very special situations.
Another type of specialized ammunition is known as a Hatton round. This type of ammunition is used in the United States almost exclusively by the military and is adapted mainly for removing door locks and hinges from their supporting structure. A Hatton round 10 is shown in cross section in FIG. 1. The Hatton round 10 is formed as a twelve gage shotgun shell and includes a cylindrical casing 12 and a cylindrical slug 14 loaded into the casing 12. The casing 12 is formed with a brass base portion 16 wherein a primer 18 is mounted. The Hatton round 10 also includes a gunpowder charge 20, and a cork wad 22. In addition, the Hatton round 10 includes seals 24 located within the casing 12 on either side of the wad 20 and between the top surface of the slug 14 and open end of the casing 12. The seals 24 function to maintain separation of the gunpowder 20, wad 22, slug 14, and casing 12.
The slug 14 of the Hatton round 10 is formed of a high melting point wax-lead material weighing about 50 grams. Such a relatively soft material will cause the slug 14 to flatten and deform upon impact. At the same time, the slug material has enough density and mass to transmit considerable impact force when propelled at a high velocity. This allows the slug 14 to be directed at a point blank range at a door or door lock and to blast away a relatively large section of the door. A door can thus be quickly removed for storming a house.
In general, the use of a Hatton round 10 has been limited to specialized applications, as such rounds do not have the accuracy or range necessary to enable their use as anti personnel ammunition. In its intended use the Hatton round 10 is fired at point blank range at a stationary door hinge. Factors such as range, accuracy, and personnel stopping power are therefore not considered in the design of a Hatton round 10.
The present invention recognizes, however, that some of the considerations useful in constructing specialized ammunition, such as a Hatton round, may be utilized in the construction of general purpose anti personnel ammunition. In particular a round can be constructed to be accurate over a limited range and to have a reduced down range lethality. Moreover such a round may be constructed to not penetrate or ricochet from solid objects yet to impart a relatively high impact force for injuring a person.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round suitable for use by law enforcement officials and others as anti personnel ammunition. It is another object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round that discharges a plurality of projectiles that expend all of their kinetic energy upon impact or in flight. It is another object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round having a projectile that will not ricochet from or penetrate solid objects such as a wall or door of a house. It is another object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round that is accurate within a close limited range. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round with a projectile that is effective for immediately stopping and incapacitating a person at close range but is non lethal down range. Finally it is an object of the present invention to provide a high impact low penetration round that is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.